If You've Never Read Anything By Ernest Hemingway, Here's The Book You Should Start With
Looking among the classics to add to your beach vacation reading list? If you look up the greatest American writers to ever live, you'll be sure to find Ernest Hemingway among them. Hemingway was a prolific writer during a formative time in America, and his books continue to be a source of inspiration for budding writers today. You can't go wrong picking up a book that was written by this incredibly talented author.
Ernest Miller Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899 in a small place called Oak Park, Illinois (via Biography). Many of his younger days were spent with his mother and father in their second home — the shared cabin was located in the mountainous region of Michigan. It was the perfect place for a young child to play, explore, and grow. This magical area is where Hemingway grew a strong appreciation and deep love for nature, which would go on to be the inspiration for many of his later works (via Michigan.org.) He went on to have an impactful life filled with twists and turns that would produce some of the most well-known pieces of literature in history.
His first novel was about the Roaring 20s
They say surrounding yourself with great minds is one of the best ways to motivate yourself. Maybe that's why Ernest Hemingway's first collection of writings were produced in the 1920s while he was in the company of such talented writers as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, and Ezra Pound (via History). Living in a beautiful city like Paris, France must have also offered a huge heaping of inspiration that got the words flowing. His debut novel, "The Sun Also Rises," was produced during this time in the writer's life.
Goodreads calls his first novel "the quintessential novel of the Lost Generation." It's also among the first to employ Hemingway's "iceberg theory." Published in 1926, the young writer's powerful yet eloquent writing style in "The Sun Also Rises" took the literary world by storm. After World War I, a bloody war which Hemingway himself participated in, many people were left in a state of disillusionment.
Hemingway captured this feeling perfectly in "The Sun Also Rises." His novel takes readers through a European adventure that features thrilling romance, Parisian parties, intense bullfights, and hints of existentialism. This is a great read for anyone with an interest in the postwar world during the 1920s.
The Old Man and the Sea won Hemingway a Nobel Prize
Some people would rather start at the end of an author's career than the beginning. Luckily, Ernest Hemingway's final published novella is arguably one of his best. "The Old Man and the Sea" was published in 1952 and is largely attributed to Ernest Hemingway receiving a Nobel Prize in 1954. According to NobelPrize.org, Hemingway was awarded the prize "for his mastery of the art of narrative, most recently demonstrated in 'The Old Man and the Sea,' and for the influence that he has exerted on contemporary style."
Hemingway's last published work tells the seemingly simple story of an old man fishing at sea. But when you dig deeper, it becomes clear that Hemingway's story is about much more than casting fishing lines and sailing on a boat. A review by ThoughtCo. explains that Hemingway used a normal occurrence to weave a thematic tale of life, death, and the unstoppable force that is nature.
Rather you start at the beginning or end of Hemingway's writing career, you are in for a literary treat no matter what.